Where Do We Stand?
by sweetfury
Summary: Ash roamed around as aimlessly as before going to parties and chasing after girls, but something just didn't feel right. Mary-Lynnette carried on ready to start her life now that she graduated high school, but something left her feeling vacant. Stripped of their soulmate without their knowledge, Mary-Lynnette and Ash try profoundly to remember each other and how this had happened
1. Chapter 1

"So, you want to leave?"

The blonde quirked a penciled eyebrow and smiled flirtatiously. "I'd thought you'd never ask."

Ash flashed a grin and draped an arm lazily around her slim body. She really didn't have much to show for - except for what seemed to be a nice push up bra, and a mustang of the latest model sitting in the dying weeds of the huge backyard. The party they were at was spilling out with underage drunken, and wasted teens despite how large the house was in the secluded rural area.

The blonde- Jerissa?- hung on to his arm and drawled, "So where's your ride?"

"Oh, I want to look at yours - you know you can tell a lot about a person by what kind of car they drive," Ash easily evaded. He stared into her blue eyes and felt his smile slip. It was the wrong color blue...

"Something wrong Ashy?"

He tugged the smile back into place, though he was slightly annoyed with the nickname.

"Nothing Jerissa, let's-"

"Jessica."

"Right. So where's your car?" It was obvious Ash didn't have his usual cool right now.

She gently dropped his arm and strutted to the recently polished red mustang and slid an arm down it suggestively. "Here it is," she practically purred. Surprisingly there was no one this far into the backyard.

Tossing her mane of blonde hair she slipped her fingers into her pocket and pulled out her keys.

Ash stepped forward so they were only a few feet away with more than a bit of a forced smile.

"Want to ride my…" She then set her empty hand on Ash's shoulder slowly making her way downward. "Mustang?" Ash chuckled, but not seductively. He had to laugh at her ridiculous way of obviously trying so hard.

Nonchalantly he stuck out his hand to grasp the keys, while locking his jade green eyes with hers. "There's nothing I'd rather do," he murmured honestly, though not the way she was implying.

It was then the blonde took this as an invitation to plunge her tongue down his throat. She had already managed to bind him in her grip with a fistful of ash blonde hair, and was working on thrusting her hand up his shirt. With all the will power Ash could muster he tugged her off without damaging her frail human body. He pulled away from her slightly instead of jerking his head away violently like he wanted to.

He set a hand on her shoulder pushing Jessica away, then saw the gesture to be too rejecting. He still needed the car… With that small reminder Ash slid down his hand from her shoulder to her arm.

With that he placed unnatural lopsided grin on his face.

"Hey, we can have more fun _outside_ of the backyard." He had attempted to make it sound flirtatious, but instead it border lined commanding. Ash looked through the oblivious girl wistfully and his eyes glazed over. It was if he slipped into an old pair of clothes where everything felt familiar, yet every move felt strange and uncomfortable.

The girl giggled and dipped her head looking at Ash underneath her eyelashes. "Let's go then," she smiled. Then Ash wondered idly if he needed to feed. Just at the thought he felt a slight ache and his tongue grazed over his canines.

Leading the girl towards the car he repeated her less enthusiastically, "Yeah, let's go." He placed his hand on her back directing her towards the passenger door.

The time it took to open the driver's door and sit in the seat, Ash turned to find the blonde girl already leaning towards him with her chest pressed forward. She pursed her lips and said huskily, "I have pillows in the back."

Eternally Ash winced and tried to block out her alcohol smelling breath. On the outside he teasingly went only a few inches away from her and murmured honestly, "I don't think we need those."

The girl leaned forwards to press her strawberry colored lips to his.

That was it. Ash simply could not do this anymore. He pulled away until he was almost hitting his head on the tinted window. The thick headed blonde looked at him with big rounded blue eyes with mascara dragging down her lashes. She gave yet another fake high pitched giggle while saying, "So my place?"

"No," he said coldly with a bitter smile, which was the most sincere smile he had all night. "I think you should just go and _sleep_."

"Sleep?" she repeated him while wrinkling her forehead.

_Sleep_, he said mentally staring hard into her dazed eyes.

Ash wasn't the strongest telepath, so he couldn't just get her to sleep with a flick of his wrist like he wanted to. In the end it didn't matter because the poor human girl didn't have a very strong willed mind either. Her eyes fluttered closed and her body slumped back into her seat. Her blonde locks fell strewn over her face.

Ash rolled his now grey eyes that glinted darkly in the night. Well, now there isn't any feeding. Or a car to drive.

It wasn't even really the thought of her being unconscious that set Ash off - it was more of the fact that he didn't want to think about putting his lips anywhere near her body again. He didn't even need the car. That was the thing, Ash saw something he liked and got it one way or another. But not tonight. He slammed the car door into place, and the loud finalizing clang seemed to assure that. Though now he wasn't sure why he should even feed on innocent humans.

Innocent humans? Where had that come from? Ash let out a laugh. No, they're vermin… And he knew that girl was far from innocent.

Ash started to consider whether he should return to party or find something else to occupy him.

Carelessly he moved away from the girl's car, suddenly finding himself walking farther and farther away from the party.

Beyond the huge house that thudded loudly with a rhythmic bass, in the seemingly never ending backyard was a wide area of sparse trees and loosely packed dirt. The space between the trees and house was littered with various trash and a few humans half conscious.

Ash just needed to _get away_. Wherever his mind was, it wasn't there at the loud party. He found his feet taking him farther and farther out until he stopped against an unfamiliar tree and leaned back. His neck seemed to naturally tilt back until it was at just the right angle…

There. Right there, it seemed everything in the sky seemed to span out and clarify. Squinting his suddenly brown eyes, Ash tried to memorize what he saw.

A few lonely looking stars shone brightly to his vampire eyes, and only a few made somewhat of a familiar formation. And there was the biggest and brightest star of the summer, Vega.

He simply blinked once and wondered how his mind spit out such a random fact…Maybe Rowan had told him before.

But a slight ache in his chest confirmed that no, Rowan hadn't told him. Just looking at the stars made him feel full of a strange sense of longing he had never felt before. He ran a hand through his ash blonde hair and sighed.

Suddenly he felt very tired and just wanted to leave. He wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, and be dead to the world. This was not his best night. He didn't score… anything.

And why should I? he thought to himself laughing bitterly. He didn't want any of this. What he did want… he wasn't quite sure. He just had the strangest sense that something was just missing. Something so important he felt stupid for not knowing what it was.

He shrugged it off and leaned down to sit in the soft grass. To hell with going home, he would just sleep here. A part of him told him he was being irrational, but a bigger part of him just didn't care. He leaned against the base of a tree and linked his fingers behind his head.

What better way to spend the night then underneath the stars? We'll be looking at the same sky, Ash thought letting out a breath air.

But he didn't let the air out of mouth completely because his breath hitched at the same time he felt a sharp pain in his head. It felt like someone had hit his skull with a gavel. Or a club made out of yew…

At the thought, the pain seemed to only intensify. Ash leaned forward rubbing his head as if it would help the eternal agony.

God, what was wrong with him tonight? He didn't have _that_ much to drink, and wasn't he promised pounding headaches_ tomorrow_?

Ash was so caught up in his own thoughts he didn't notice the girl a few feet away in the woods with him.

**A/N: Reviews are awesome and helpful! :) Thanks for reading**


	2. Chapter 2

Mary-Lynnette looked down at her Diet Coke and busied herself with twirling her wrist to move the can's contents, feeling the cool liquid swish around in the aluminum. Her nose was close enough to smell the sweet caramel pop. She sighed and looked around her.

The huge house was crowded and loud with the pounding bass able to be heard for at least a mile radius. Everyone at the party was doing something. Everybody was making another drink, talking, laughing or looking sick. Or "dancing" which in Mary-Lynnette's opinion was not dancing. Dancing was elegant and made you move to the beat, with a nice rhythm. These people gyrated all around her with no shame.

Why was she here? Mary-Lynnette looked down to her outfit and once again felt like she needed another layer of clothing. Her "friend" Marissa had encouraged her to go to this college party like Marissa did most Friday's after work, but this Friday for once, she had said yes. It was obvious Marissa had been surprised, but had gladly taken Mary-Lynnette with a few of her friends. Marissa had loaned her the almost backless deep purple shirt Mary-Lynnette was wearing now, that had had a scooped neck line that barely showed any cleavage, but it was too much for Mary-Lynnette's taste. In fact almost everything Mary-Lynnette was wearing was too much for her taste. However Marissa had convinced her she looked "just incredibly hot!" so she had reluctantly agreed and went along. But once they had gotten there, Marissa and her friends had dispersed, finding their own things to do. Which left Mary-Lynnette at a lonely table with a can of soda in her hand

She had taken one sip and had not felt the need to take another of the sugary drink, so she just stirred it hoping to look occupied enough so no one would advance her. She had come out tonight thinking that tonight would be the night. She would do anything – even if it meant going out of her comfort zone and joining every other teenager at a party. She just needed to let go and get rid of this overhanging gloom she had for so long. She had done her hair so it waved down her back, and had just a touch of make up with a simple cherry gloss on her lips, to look appealing. She had this fantasy of some beautiful, teasing blonde stranger to beckon her to the dance floor.

Mary-Lynnette rolled her eyes at her drink. No, she was not the person for some guy to just whisk her off her feet. She came here to have fun. She came to get out of the house for once. And what was she doing? Sulking at a dusty table by herself.

She picked up her small black bag and started to head for the door to get some air. Unfortunately she had to make her way around the people dancing so close together it was disgusting. On her way she found Marissa sitting on somebody's lap inches away from their face talking with a seductive smile. Mary-Lynnette shook her head and finally made her way outside to the nice grassy backyard, compete with a gazebo.

The house the party was at was a little ways out of the city, and it was noticed by the way the sparse trees that opened to the seemingly endless backyard. She sighed and was thankful for the somewhat familiarity of her old home. It was times like this was when Mary-Lynnette missed her small Oregon town the most. There she had the trees, the brisk air, and an amazing view of the stars. Here the air quality was poor so it was hard to see the beauty of the night.

She found herself walking into the small gathered trees and tilting her head up to look at her muddled view of the sky. At least she could see the queen star of the summer, Vega.

Then she started to smile idiotically, and she chuckled. Who knew big ash blonde cats liked to look at the stars too?

Mary-Lynnette gasped sharply and groaned. It was like with the thought she had managed to give herself an intense headache. Mary-Lynnette shook her head and immediately blamed it on the blaring music. She frowned and remembered the thing about cats. What was that about? She shook her head.

Now with the thought of cats in mind though, Mary-Lynnette thought about Tiggy. Tiggy was the girl with bright blonde hair's cat. Mary-Lynnette couldn't even remember her name right now. Jane, wasn't it? Or Crystal? Whatever her name was, she and her two sisters were just outright strange. Mary-Lynnette and her brother Mark would pass them on their way to the woods, or to the town's market place, or in the old high school hallways. Every time they saw them they gave them the same look. Their look was a mixture of pity and grief as if they knew something awful had happened to them. The one with the cat would look at Mary-Lynnette's brother Mark as if she was about to burst into tears. During these times Mark would give her an uncomfortable glance and look around to the nearest person for confirmation that this was a weird reaction. When Mary-Lynnette was the nearest to him she would shrug, not sure what to make of it.

Mary-Lynnette remembered months ago when the three sisters first knocked on their door. They sure didn't look like sisters, but somehow Mary-Lynnette had just known. The eldest, with long flowing brown hair, had asked Mary-Lynnette slowly and calmly with a look of desperation in her eyes, if she knew who she was. It was a strange first encounter, and Mary-Lynnette smiled politely and shook her head no. She then had stuck her hand out saying, "Nice to meet you though. I'm Mary-Lynnette."

Then the girl in her doorway face had fallen in utter disappointment, and she slowly replaced the smile looking sadder than ever. She then returned the handshake and recited her name in a gentle voice, barely more than a whisper. Mary-Lynnette had then looked at the other two and saw the girl with golden eyes shining with unshed tears and a frown on her face, and the other with a few tears actually dropping from her green eyes. The sister with green eyes had bright blonde hair, and was definitely the youngest. She had started to sniffle and had started wiping her small pink nose.

Thoroughly confused Mary-Lynnette had immediately went to console the poor girls who looked as if someone had died right in front of them, but they claimed to have something to do and had left her standing there with so many questions.

Mary-Lynnette brought herself back to the present and found herself staring at the middle of a sprouting pine tree. She then dragged her eyes to her surroundings and sighed. She put one tennis shoe in front of the other going deeper into the trees. She wanted to pretend that just for a moment she was somewhere else… with someone, almost anybody. She hugged herself and continued walking with a light breeze starting to pick up. She wanted to close her eyes and take in the strong smell of bark, but she continued walking and she wasn't sure where to.

Something in her though stopped there in the middle of nowhere. She looked around her and found a tree and leaned against it and finally closed her eyes, sighing.

It seemed no matter what she did, no matter where she went she felt a strange gloom consume her. A few months ago in Oregon she would wander around the house or outdoors feeling lost and sad. She could feel her family's concerned stares and hear their quiet remarks, wondering why she was so out of it, and why her smiles were brief and laughter short.

Maybe it was because the strange boy Jeremy Lovett she used to know. No one quite knew what to make of his sudden disappearance, and Mary-Lynnette's heart ached in an odd way every time she thought of him. She would get angry and upset, but most of all felt that he was misguided. And she knew in her heart that he would never comeback. Her younger brother Mark would have moments like this too and had one time told her maybe it was for the better he was gone. He had curled his lips in disgust and told her he deserved what he got. As soon as Mary-Lynnette asked him what he meant by that he shook his head and looked back at her dazedly and said he wasn't sure.

Whatever the reason may be, Mary-Lynnette wasn't quite sure but had the undeniable feeling that something in her life was missing.

It was then that she was aware of the presence of someone else not so far away.

**A/N: Mary-Lynnette's perspective is a little out of character, but will be explained later... Thanks for reading:)**


	3. Chapter 3

Mary-Lynnette's eyes widened as she took in the figure before her. It was a guy, a strong one at that as she could see his slim muscles flex as he rubbed his head. He looked distressed as he pushed his blonde hair back away from his forehead.

Immediately Mary-Lynnette's eternal alarms went off as she realized the situation she was in. There was a young strong guy, out of it, sitting in the woods not too far off from a party where he could've gotten completely wasted.  
This was not a good time to be a girl all alone wandering in the woods, and yet Mary-Lynnette couldn't help but stare. His hunched shoulders caused her to instantly feel slightly curious at what could be worng with him. He just looked so familiar...  
God, what am I doing? Mary-Lynnette thought, coming back to reality. You need to get out of here and fast, she told herself.

She took one step back and instantly cringed when her foot snapped on a twig. She hoped the guy hadn't noticed but his head swiveled in her direction instantly.

When their eyes met Mary-Lynnette couldn't explain the feeling. It was like the world was shaking around her in a deadly earthquake leavin her feeling out of control. Everything else in the world blurred except for his profile. She saw his eyes widen in surprise as they turned from green to blue to violet...

With his features taking on a dream like wonder he raised his hand almost unconsciously reaching towards her. Mary-Lynnette finally felt herself leaning forward unknowingly and she blinked when she realized what she was doing.  
What _was_ she doing? God, why did she feel like this? As soon as she looked away she felt her lungs greedily fill with oxygen an her heart pumping at an alarming rate.

With their eye contact broken the strange world-shaking feeling subsided. Out of the corner of her eye she saw his hand drop, since she didn't dare look him face to face again. That erased any doubts in her mind that he hadn't felt that too - whatever that was.

She got the courage to raise her eyes to him again and saw how disheveled and shocked he looked. He looked up at her again with bright golden eyes and she felt it again - that feeling like the world was going to cave.

How he even managed to speak, she didn't know. "Who are you?" He asked tentatively his breath barely more than a whisper. She wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or actually asking her, but it didn't matter because as soon as his voice hit her ears she gasped sharply.

She gripped her head tightly with both hands squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Shed never felt anything so intense, she swore her skull was being cracked in two. "Ahh!" She cried pushing the heels of her palms harder to her head as if it would make a difference.

She could hardly think at all from the searing pain in her head. It was beyond the worst migraine she'd ever encountered.

"Are you alright?" She heard him cry, coming closer, and for some reason she thought it sounded a bit out of character for him.

She didn't think it was possible but the unimaginable pain she felt increased. "No!" She managed to gasp. It wasn't really an answer to his question, just a feeble cry to make him stop. She couldn't take this anymore. Anymore and she might pass out.

She heard him grunt and back away and she managed to open her eyes, squinting to the ground in pain. When had she fallen to her knees?

She tried to back away further but only managed in falling back on her backside and causing her vision to blur in dizziness as her body moved faster than her eyes could follow at the moment.

Ever so slowly though the pain subsided. Gradually Mary-Lynnette could get up again and tested her balance, making sure not to get up too fast. When she looked up again she saw the blonde boy who was studying the ground intently. He definitely heard her get up but he looked determined not to look her in the eye. To not make any contact whatsoever actually. He had his mouth set in a grim line and his hands were shoved deep into his pockets.  
She wanted to go forward and console him, and erase the worry lines marring his face. She wanted to but  
his voice, she somehow knew it was his familiar voice that triggered her reaction. It caused that blinding agony she never wanted to experience again. Just simply looking at him sent her into another world where everything didn't make sense. Nothing made sense but the fact that something about him was just all too strange.

She felt conflicted in a way. She wondered whether or not to go towards him or back away. Backing away and leaving assured that horrible pain could never be inflicted on her again...

Besides he was a weird boy all alone in the middle of the woods she reminded herself. He could be looking for girls like her all the time lurking outside of a crazy party filled with teenagers.

Though he should be used to parties...

There it was again, though it was just a taste of the feeling she got earlier. This time her head throbbed like she had chugged down a snow cone too fast. She still winced and made her decision abruptly.

She turned around and left, running as fast as her feet would allow dodging trees and undergrowth. When she saw the huge house in complete view again, she sighed in relief for once at the sight of passed out and drunken people.

She rushed to the house looking aroun for Marissa since she was her ride. She really didn't want to think about what had happened in the trees. She just wanted to leave. She hasn't felt anything like that, at least in the past year.

**A/N: Well, late (short and...not the best) I know. I won't give up on this story - I just cracked my laptop and lost all of my documents, including this one. Expect the next chapter in week :) Thanks for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

Ash stood in the same spot in the woods even though the girl had left about twenty minutes ago.  
He just couldn't stop analyzing what had happened - which was weird, because a large part of him said to just shrug it off, accept it, and move on.

But how do you just move on when simply looking into someone's eyes made you feel so..._out of control? _Ash narrowed his eyes. But a simple human girl couldn't do that - he was sure.

So far he had come to two pretty farfetched conclusions.

One, she may have been a witch - or a more probable explanation was that she was working with a witch. Some witch who had it in for him. Definitely a stupid witch, because they were working with a human after all. But why cause him to feel headaches? Or like the ground beneath his feet was rolling in an inescapable earthquake when he looked into someone's eyes? What would that accomplish? Besides being completely confused. But that girl - she had been affected too, because she had fallen to her knees in such excruciating pain, it hurt just to watch...

Ash frowned. No he can't feel...sorry for a stupid human. Ash had a mental shield around his body that let pity roll of his shoulders. But that human looked awfully familiar.

Which brought him to theory two. When the girl had cried out in pain and he had tried to help her - obviously Ash had been in a more pitying state of mind - she yelled, "No!" Even her voice had sounded eerily familiar. At the moment he had winced, clutching his own head in pain, like she had. Ash remembered thinking that she sounded just like those stupid girls at a club he went to years ago. They had sounded like that too - like they were asking for their killer to back away, pleading with him. He hated that she would cry at him like that...Seconds after he had thought that, the pain had gone and she was still on the ground breathing hard.

Yeah, he convinced himself. She kind of looked like the girl with the lip ring, and dark wavy hair at that club years ago. Honestly he hadn't looked closely at any of the girls faces, afraid he might remember them. That night he had turned away when other people from the club had beckoned innocent girls out to use them for whatever the Night People's needs might've been with them. He swore from then on that if he ever saw humans walk into a NightWorld club again, he wouldn't get involved.

Though he did remember thinking that the human girls deserved it for being so stupid and he had been right in taking the lip ring girl out and feeding from her. Leaving her alive had probably left her better off than any of her friends.

Ash shook his head, bringing himself back to present.

Yeah, I guess it could be her,Ash thought, though he doubted it. She could've come back as a vampire hunter out to kill me, he mused though he couldn't wrap his mind around her being a vampire hunter. Or actually killing anything at all.

A small voice in his head told him he was being stupid. Something told him something much bigger than him or any past relations he had with anybody was involved. That he was just as confused as that beautiful girl was. Something much bigger was at work here...

And it felt like it was trying to mash their heads together.

xxx

Ash finally moved from his spot, kicking around the loose dirt. He was tired of trying to figure exactly what had happened. Now he was determined to anything to get away from his thoughts. He had already tried to take that blonde girl's car, and he didn't really feel like going back to the party. What if that Jessica girl woke up and saw him?

Or the girl in the woods saw him again?

Ash stuffed his hands deeper into his pockets. The city wasn't really that far off from where he was from, but he didn't really feel like taking the long walk. Ash's currently dark eyes traveled around him, just looking.

His eyes widened slightly when he spotted the small black purse.

He walked towards it slowly and picked it up gingerly. Oh, don't tell me, he thought sarcastically thought he felt excitement bubble in his chest. A small amused smile played its way onto his face as he flicked open the clasp on the almost unused purse. Inside was a few dollar bills (not even a wallet) and a small humble cell phone.

Ash pressed a button on the device, causing it to illuminate showing the plain wallpaper. He opened up the contacts and saw only five names: Mark, Dad, Claudine, Bunny, and Marissa.

Yep, definitely hers, he thought smiling sideways. Though he wasn't quite sure why he was so confident those names had any relation to her.

**A/N: Well, chapter four. Super short, but it's a chapter :) If you're confused about anything review or PM :) Review if your not confused either! **


	5. Chapter 5

Mary-Lynnette was stuck. She couldn't leave the stupid party. Marissa was no where to be found and she definitely didn't trust anyone to drive her home. And she wasn't exactly going to walk the 20 miles. Especially this late at night. All she needed was another weird guy finding her alone.

She shook her head. As if she needed any reminders about that scene in the woods. Which reminded her that she couldn't even call a cab because her phone that had been in her purse was lost.

I don't even know where I last had it, Mary-Lynnette thought frustrated. Though she did have a good idea that it woulld be in the the trees somewhere. She let out an irritated sigh leaning against the wall outside of the house facing the front yard.

She shivered slightly hugging herself. She was definitely regretting her almost backless top now.

Just as Mary-Lynnette was about to chance the long walk home, she heard someone slam the front door and walk out.

"Damn it!"

Mary-Lynnette turned curiously towards the gruff male voice and saw a muscular guy with bloodshot eyes stumble out of the house. He looked her eye and Mary-Lynnette instantly caught her mistake. Mary-Lynnette tried to melt into the wall hoping to go unnoticed again, but it was too late.

"Shar, hey Shar is that you? Shit," he muttered tripping over the flat ground.

His arms flailed trying to hold on to anything to keep himself upright and his hands landed on Mary-Lynnette. Mary-Lynnette's eyes widened in surprise and panic as he pulled her down since there was no way she could hold his weight.

They tumbled to the ground with Mary-Lynnette on top of him. "Ah, soft," he slurred rubbing his head into the lawn.

His eyes started to close, and Mary-Lynnette was already trying to push herself off of him when he gripped her wrist suddenly.

"Shar, no wait. I'm-I'm sorry." He put his hand in his pocket pulling out his phone slowly but was going under, his eyelids fluttering shut.

His grip on her wrist went slack and Mary-Lynnette pulled it back gratefully.

Once she was safely detangled from the intoxicated stranger she shook her head.

Tonight had been a mistake, she chided herself. She couldn't even get home...

Her eyes flicked towards the phone halfway emerged from the guy's pocket.

No, no, she told herself. She couldn't just take someone's phone... Even if it was just borrowing it.

For just a second. Yeah, besides she woul give it right back.

Just reach into his pocket...

Mary-Lynnette looked around quickly. She squeezed her eyes and convinced herself it was justified.

Before she could think too much about it she leaned over and reached in his pocket and pulled the phone out.

She smiled sighing in relief. It hadn't been that hard. Now she would just call a ride... But she hasn't heard the front door slam again as someone stomped out.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" A girl yelled behind Mary-Lynnette incredously. Mary-Lynnette's shoulders tensed as she eternally groaned. Great. Quickly Mary-Lynnette stuffed the phone in her pocket.

"Who are you?" The girl raged gripping Mary-Lynnette's shoulder turning her around so she could face her.

Mary-Lynnette faced her getting overwhelmed with the smell of marijuana wafting around the girl. The whites of her eyes were a light pink and her face was pinched in anger. Her long fingers were curled into claws as she glared at Mary-Lynnette. Her hair was wild and free whipping around her shoulders in the wind seeming to bristle like her anger.

"No one gets on Shar's man," she growled before flinging a clawed hand towards Mary-Lynnette.

Mary-Lynnette felt herself loose the last of her control. A sudden rage consumed her as she dodged the claw and pushed the girl's arm back. Hard.

She had finally had enough tonight, and it was going to end with this girl, _Shar_.

Mary-Lynnette got ready to shove her backward when a strong hand held her back.

"Hey, hey." Instantly Mary-Lynnette cringed feeling the strong pain flare once again in her head, but somewhat less than before.

She turned to see no one other than the guy from the woods standing between her and the girl. He had his head turned to the girl with a hand holding her also.

Mary-Lynnette's heart thumped oddly from the contact even if it wasn't skin to skin - his hand was on her shirt. Why was he here? She thought.

The girl, Shar, glared at the guy and opened her mouth as if she was going to yell at him. Then her face crumpled in confusion and she murmured, "Oh, alright..."

Her pink eyes became heavy lidded and she turned walking away.  
Mary-Lynnette furrowed her eyebrows. Questions danced in her head, but she lost them once the guy turned towards her.

His green eyes at the moment looked into her eyes for a second before they flitted down to a much safer place, like her chin. He dropped his hand from her shoulder.

"Getting into fights now?" He asked lightly, though it sounded like he had to work hard to make it sound that way. Easy going and like he couldn't care one way or the other.

Mary-Lynnette held her head with one hand in pain. Every time she heard that voice!

The anger that she had that was only held back by confusion of his presence instantly returned. Mary-Lynnette glared into his eyes and he looked back ; the feeling she got looking into his eyes only fueled her outburst.

"What do you care? I don't even know -"

The guy flinched at her words, but it wasn't because he was emotionally hurt. He actually looked physically hurt.

Mary-Lynnette stopped yelling. He was affected too. She saw that look on his face which was what she imagined what hers looked like before. Whenever he had spoken to her.

She also stopped because she realized what she was about to say. _I don't even know you_. But was that true? There was something about him - I mean, how many guys do I know with color changing eyes? Mary-Lynnette thought. Only one lazy boy...

She grimaced. Jeez when was it going to stop? "Who _are_ you?" She asked. She paused for a moment feeling a bit of déjà vu.

Woah, that's weird... She thought.

She looked to the boy who was actually groaning in pain. "Goddess, just stop-" he told her furiously rubbing his hands into his temples. "Look, you left your stuff in the woods."

He thrust her purse into her hands and her hand brushed his.

That's when all hell broke loose.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Ash pulled back his hand sharply gasping.

_You._ he thought, and he could feel her thought being echoed to him.

When their hands had touched it was like lightening. It was dramatic, but that's how it _felt._

Even more powerful than looking into her eyes. Though the thing was it wasn't quite painful as when he heard her voice. That was a different feeling entirely. This felt so... Right. Like he had been connected somehow to the girl.  
Reconnected... Ash thought, and for once a thought that made no real sense to him didn't cause some blinding headache.

"But- but wait," she said grabbing hold of his hand again completely dropping the purse.

That's when the link between them seemed to snap together and take hold.

Ash felt himself falling forward, weak in the knees. But she was falling too, they were going straight into each others arms.

It didn't even matter any more because Ash wasn't seeing anything outside anymore. He was in a place he knew was simply for just the two of them. All he could _see _was the creamy blue of her mind. It was soft, but brilliant and jewel like.

_I-I know this...I know _you, Ash felt rather than heard from her. She was using telepathy.

Relieved, Ash thought to himself, _I knew I wasn't the only one._ He meant that he wasn't the only one going a little crazy. With the pounding headaches and undeniable feeling that something about this girl was so eerily familiar. And this connection definitely wasn't normal. It was...

It was bliss.

_I understand what you mean._

There she was again. In my head- our minds, Ash thought. He could _feel_ her confusion and wonder. Oddly she reminded him of a curious child doing exactly what they had been told not to.

Ash simply wondered what her name was and it was shown to him - she wasn't doing it, there was just no barriers between them whatsoever. _Your name's...Mary-Lynnette-_Ash's mental voice cut off.

Gasping sharply he pulled away cutting off their connection in one of the harshest ways. He stood from where he hasn't realize he had fallen, untangling his arms from her.

This girl was... Bad. That's all he knew. It was like red flags going off, warning him of her this girl. He did know that much about her.

The look she gave him was heart wrenching. She looked confused and and hurt. Her eyebrows furrowed and lips slightly open.

Ash looked away quickly, his lips going to a thin line. He didn't realize how hard he was breathing.  
"There's your stuff," he said a little coldly looking back to her.

The hurt look that had been on her face was completely gone. She snatched her purse from the ground and narrowed her eyes at him. "That's it?" She asked sharply.

Ash couldn't even focus enough to realize the sound of her voice didn't effect him anymore. Ash laughed harshly. "I'm sorry. What were you expecting?" He smirked although his heart was thumping oddly. "I don't know what happened, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

At first she looked at a loss for words and Ash cursed himself. Why couldn't he just...? Just what? Find out what was going between them? How could a human so simply strip away his mental barriers and enter everything close to him with no warning? Was she even doing it?

She scowled at him coldly and turned on her heel making her dark purple shirt flutter slightly in the wind. Ash wasn't even sure where she was headed but he looked after her.

She took one step. Was she going back to that house? he wondered.

She took another step. Was someone else going to confront her in there?

Another step. Do I even care?

She had almost made it to the front door. Hell yeah I do, Ash thought.

He groaned but went to her just as her hand closed on the fancy doorknob. "Wait," he called. "Mary-Lynnette," as soon as her name left his lips they both stopped and stared at each other until Ash started to feel dizzy.

"Sorry," he muttered not sure why he was apologizing. Maybe for reminding them of whatever connection they had. "What are you doing?" he asked. He grimaced because it came out sounding a little possessive.

She raised an eyebrow and stepped away from the door a little. "What do you want?" she asked bluntly, her blue eyes still cold.

Ash opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly the door between them burst open and Ash cursed himself for not paying attention to the footsteps he heard before the door even opened and almost smacked the girl in the face. Luckily he had reacted in time and pulled her out of the way, efficiently throwing her flush against him.

"Oh, shit sorry, sorry," a guy mumbled coming through the door with his hand clasped around a girl's.

The girl in tow giggled and glanced at them. "Sorry, we didn't mean to interrupt - oh, hey it's you! Mary!"

Mary-Lynnette disentangled herself from Ash quickly as the girl's unfocused eyes trailed between them. "Hey, Mary, I hope you don't mind! We're," she motioned a swaying finger between her and the guy holding her hand, "going to my place, so uh, I'm glad you, you know found someone to take you home." She grinned in Ash's direction and he blinked. "Mary, I always told you it's the quiet ones that were the wild ones." She gave them a wink and tumbled after the guy pulling her along.

"No, Marissa, I-" Mary-Lynnette called after her but they were already climbing into a car. She groaned and Ash noticed her slight blush.

"So, I see you need a ride," Ash told her before he could even think about the words that just came out of his mouth.

She turned to him with a frown. "No." she said in a way that would usually allow no room for argument. But, she was talking to Ash Redfern. And if there was one thing he knew how to do it was to get what he wanted, especially when it came to women.

Ash smirked. "So, that wasn't your ride that just sped down the road?"

She rolled her eyes. Ash looked at her until she responded annoyed. "Why does it matter? Why do you keep following me?"

Ash blinked. Was he? "Look, I'm just asking, do you want a ride? Since you obviously don't have one..." Mary-Lynnette twisted her lips to the side like she was actually considering the offer. "There's not a lot of nice guys that will offer you a ride at... one in the morning?"

She snorted and muttered something like, "Right, nice guy..."

She flickered her eyes back to his and crossed her arms. "Fine."

Ash raised his eyebrows, but smiled genuinely. "Alright, let's get out of here then." Honestly Ash didn't have a car of his own, but one of the reasons he came was to get one, so when was a better time then now, to get one?

Mary-Lynnette looked reluctant to leave with him, but followed behind him as he led the way to the backyard. The kept more than a comfortable distance between them, and didn't speak leaving a strange silence. Ash kept feeling himself wonder why he was even doing this, but he tried to ignore it. Maybe he was just being a good guy this time...By stealing some girl's cherry red Mustang.

Yeah.

Ash went and found the Mustang in the very same place he left it in the middle of the some weeds. Ash glanced back at Mary-Lynnette who had her arms crossed over her torso and her shoulders hunched like she was cold. Her expression was skeptical, especially when Ash held up a hand. "Wait a second," he told her giving her a brief smile and going to the driver's door and finding the snoring blonde. Normally she wouldn't have stayed asleep for so long, but it probably had to do with the effect of alcohol.

He felt a little guilty as he removed her from the car, but he shrugged it off. He definitely was feeling less guilty about the girl than earlier. Maybe because he just wanted to know he was he one that brought Mary-Lynnette home and made sure she was safe. Which was a bit higher on his scale than some chick who decided to stick her tongue down his throat.

He lifted her small body easily with her head flopping back in his arms. He stared at her tanned throat for a moment, unknowingly watching her vein pulse under the skin. His teeth ached as he was reminded he skipped out on feeding today.

He shook his head and carried her body away more towards the house and he could feel Mary-Lynnette's questioning stare follow him. He set her down closer to the house and left her there, walking back to the car.

"Is this even your car?" she asked. Ash pulled out the keys he never took out of his pocket and jingled them for her to see.

"Yup, just got clingy girls," he told her about to complete it with a wink, but took one look at her face and thought better of it. He found himself really hating holding up any sort of act around her.

He sighed and slipped his hands in his pockets. "Let's go." Mary-Lynnette looked back to the girl now laying on the lawn with concern, but she shook her head and eventually followed him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered as she closed the passenger side door as the same time as Ash.

"Neither can I," Ash mumbled, but he started the engine and drove off. Ash asked where she lived and headed off in the general direction.

They drove in silence with questions of their own going through their heads, but were either too tired or thought better of asking.

Ash was finding it harder and harder to focus on the road as his vision became hazy and he started to feel light headed. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and realized just how long it had been since his last feeding.

"Are you okay?" Mary-Lynnette asked a bit worriedly.

"Fine, why?" he lied. He was denying himself of what he needed most and there was a human right there, full of it, but he didn't even consider taking any blood from her. It felt wrong. He didn't want to use her, even thought she was a human girl just like the rest of the humans he fed from, but he felt revolted for even thinking about using her like that. Plus, if touching her caused a reaction like it did earlier, what would taking blood do?

"Were you drinking?" She asked looking over at him anxiously. "Ash - pull over, please."

Hearing her voice say his name caused him to obey almost immediately. She looked at him with concern, almost like she did in the woods, instead of the cold glares she had been giving him recently. Somehow at the thought Ash almost smiled. He wanted to prove something to her, and he no idea why. What the hell is happening to me? he thought distantly.

"Your name is Ash," she murmured. Ash almost didn't catch it, because his focus was else where. There was only so long he could deny his body. His eyes were trained on her neck and the way her muscles moved when she talked. Ash couldn't remember a time he went without feeding this long. He was starting to feel like he couldn't breathe properly.

"Ash, Ash..." she said looking into his eyes probably recognizing his hunger and backing away as far she could from him in the car. "Ash!" she yelled as she got no response from him.

He finally realized he was leaning closer towards her and stopped with wide eyes. "You need to get out," he said lowly realizing what he was about to do.

"You're...you're hungry," she said studying him with her blue eyes, ignoring him.

"Yes, and you need to get out," he growled in frustration. Why can't she understand that I only have so much self control? he thought.

"You, you...you need something," she said continuing to study him with her brows furrowed like she was trying to remember something.

Ash was definitely finding it hard to breath now. If he didn't get blood soon...

A hint of fear reached her eyes as she looked at him. "You need... me."

**A/N: Ah, cliche ending for the chapter, but I thought why not? Sorry for the long wait, but I made it longer because of that :) Thanks for reading! Will update soon. **


	7. Chapter 7

"You need...me." Mary-Lynnette's words seemed to rock around her skull and she seemed to realize something. Ash was looking at her like she's was completely insane - mixed in with the look of a hunger she'd never seen before - _or had she? _But there was something of triumph filling her when she seemed to figure it out. Which was mixed with a feeling of terror, but Mary-Lynnette had figured it out like she had snapped her fingers and finally realized that he needed blood.

Her blood.

"Damn it - I told you to get out," Ash growled dangerously low. Mary-Lynnette watched with horrific fascination as his color changing eyes started to turn an inhuman silvery color.

_Yup you idiot, you figured it out - this guy needs blood and it looks like he's going to get yours, _Mary-Lynnette thought. Ash now had two indents on his bottom lip of impossibly long teeth - no fangs. Somehow it didn't bother her as much as it should've that he was a vampire - it was more of the thought that he was about to do as he edged closer to her.

She shut her eyes tightly as his hands held onto her shoulders fast, but gentle. She bit her lip turning her head to the side, effectively giving him a perfect view - or _aim_ - of her exposed throat. She kept waiting and waiting for the hurt of those sharp delicate points of his teeth to pierce through the flesh of her neck, but all she felt was his staggered breathing against her skin.

"I'm sorry," he said impossibly gentle and full of remorse. Mary-Lynnette stiffened in surprise right before she finally felt the short pain of him biting her.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, the only thought taking over her mind was how it felt impossibly familiar. Like she had felt his lips on her neck before...

She would've blushed if she wasn't so overtaken by what she could _see. _What she _saw_ was his mind, and it was so impossibly colorful. Sharp and edgy with bright gem colors that flickered with darkness within them. She knew this - she'd _seen _his mind before. She knew it with every fiber in her being.

Ash, who's thoughts had been filled with blind hunger, started to recede. He started to echo her thoughts of definite familiarity. Mary-Lynnette started to probe around his mind feeling a little frantic. She thought, _I know you - but _how_? You - _

Her thought was cut off as she encountered something that resembled a blinding white light in his mind. It was like it was closed off some how, to both her and him. She gently _reached_ for it, not knowing how she did and felt Ash gasp.

Their bodies jerked away from each other and their connection snapped apart. "Damn," Ash muttered, now back to his seat breathing heavily.

Mary-Lynnette panted leaning back into the cushion of her seat with her eyes closed.

Ash swore and had his forehead pressed against the steering wheel as he grimaced in pain. "I'm sorry," Mary-Lynnette said immediately because she felt inclined to. His reaction had something to do with her - whatever she had done in his mind...

She pushed a hand to her forehead suddenly finding it a lot to take in. All of this supernatural, other worldly, impossible things happening - it was starting to get to her.

Ash swore again. "What did you do?" he asked rhetorically through his teeth, now with both of his hands on either side of his head.

Mary-Lynnette still answered though. "I don't know." Almost unconsciously she touched her neck gingerly and winced in mild disgust when her fingers came away slick with blood. "It was just... What was that?" she asked not really expecting an answer as she stared out the windshield without really seeing anything.

Finally Ash lifted his head, putting his arms down, but was still grimacing. "I wish you would've warned me. I'd rather you bash me in the head with a piece of wood." His words had attempted to sound venomous, but he still sounded like he was in pain. Mary-Lynnette looked at him with guilt and felt her heart slightly clench when she thought of how in pain he must be. Sure hitting him sometimes sounded like a good idea, but not so he was so hurt. "Really, I'm sorry - I didn't know," she murmured honestly.

His eyes flickered to hers briefly in a strange coppery color, then turned towards straight ahead. "Well, I took you're blood, so it's only fair right?" His voice sounded tired and detached as he refused to make eye contact.

Mary-Lynnette stared at him. His blonde hair was in disarray, and his body seemed to slack in the chair instead of lounge there like she expected it too. In a lazy, cat, sort of way. Despite the blood he had taken, you wouldn't have known it except for the color in his skin and the way he seemed impossibly more attractive in a way a human couldn't be. Mary-Lynnette sighed.

Ash looked at her fleetingly with a look of something like worry, but tore his eyes away erasing any emotion. "Maybe... maybe I should just take you home now."

Mary-Lynnette's eyes widened and sat up straighter. Her heart rammed inside her chest painfully. "Right now?" She winced after hearing herself how pitiful she sounded. "I mean - after all that's happened, you want me to just _go home_? Just like that?" She asked incredulously.

"I think I've had enough for one night," he stated simply looking in front of him. "Don't you think?"

It was hard to detect the bittterness in his voice, but Mary-Lynnette caught it. "Look, I said I was sorry about that, I just need to know someth-"

"It's not about that!" Ash was now looking at her, his auburn eyes angry. "Maybe I just want to go home and forget this ever happened. You know I could just make you forgot about this, about everything." He was looking at her fiercely with the obvious threat. "You already know too much - I could kill you by law for knowing as much as you do."

Mary-Lynnette glared at him. "Then why don't you?" she challenged.

Ash stared hard into her blue eyes. "Does it look like I know?! Goddess -" He stopped himself suddenly. "Just tell me where you live."

A/N: Ahh, okay excuse my exaggerated use of "update soon". I really appreciate the reviews :) Sorry for such a... choppy(?) ending and slow pace. I will update... tomorrow? I hate to put a date on when I'll update, but let's go with tomorrow :)

( love 4 myth: love the idea can't say though ;)


	8. Chapter 8

Mary-Lynnette didn't really think about the actions as she did them, but she found herself flopping into her bed in her night clothes and her hair pulled back in a sloppy pony tail. It had been a long night, or morning, whatever way you wanted to look at it. Ash had all but pushed her out of the car when he dropped her off and didn't say anything to her the whole way there. She didn't even get a proper explanation to why he could sprout fangs and drink her blood, let alone the weird things that happened when they touched and drank blood. It was churning around her mind sluggishly and she yawned spreading herself over her sheets.

As she fell asleep she dreamed of the weird sisters back at Briar Creek and deer...

xxxxx

Ash was leaning back on the Mustang with his hands in his pockets glaring at the few visible stars in the sky. It was still the dead hours of the morning so he wasn't disturbed on the lone hill he had found a little ways away from the road.

He should've been exhausted, and maybe he was drawing energy from the blood he had taken not so long ago, or maybe he was just overwhelmed. This girl, Mary-Lynnette, had been effecting him since he first saw her. In a positive or negative way, he wasn't sure.

There was no denying though, that something was happening between them, and Ash swore he had a name for it, but he couldn't think of it for the life of him. Whatever it was couldn't be good... She was a human right? So she shouldn't be able to startle him like this.

_Oh Goddess_ - Ash shook his head. _Since when do I say_ '_Goddess'? _

But a bigger concern had truly descended on him. It made him almost shake with worry. She was human and she knew way too much. He remembered telling her he could kill her for all she knew about him - not that he ever would - but he hadn't really thought about the consequences of simply letting her go home. Letting her go with all of that information she could actually get killed if someone found out. She'd be in the hands of the Council and both of them would be killed.

An ugly feeling wrapped itself around Ash and settled in his stomach. If something did happen and she got killed... it would be all his fault. Mary-Lynnette, dead.

Ash felt sick to his stomach.

A small part of him thought, why do you feel so attached to her? Why do you want to protect this human girl so badly? But that was the thing - she wasn't just a human girl. Let alone how familiar she was, this retched feeling of belonging to her, Ash knew there was something more by their weird connections every time they were around each other.

Like when he had fed off of her... he had felt extremely guilty and dirty for doing it, but they had truly connected. Like they were in world all their own - and that definitely never happened when he drank from a human before. He had always blocked any sort of connection, but that had been something completely out of his control. They both were left with no barriers; bared to the other. At first to Ash it had felt almost invaded and exposed, but he had found himself basking more into the feeling and undeniably liking it. But it was when she had done - something, he didn't know what, but it felt like she was prying into some part of his mind and _ripping_ something away. But it wasn't ripping exactly - it was difficult to explain the feeling but it had instantly sent him into some of the worst pain he had ever felt. Take bashing him in the head with a wooden bat and times that by twenty. At the time he had vaguely wondered if a person who cracked their skull had felt the same pain.

Ash felt though, that it didn't have anything to do with their connection. Whatever Mary-Lynnette had touched in his mind - it was something entirely different.

Ash scowled. This was bad...what could possibly do something like that to his mind? He'd have to find a witch. And he had just the one in mind - but first he had to get Mary-Lynnette, before she said anything to put herself in danger.

He went into the car and stuck the key in the ignition. The clock on the radio of the car read 3:30 A.M. Okay, he couldn't exactly come knocking on her apartment door at this time... Well he could, but he owed her some rest. Ash pulled his hands through his hair. He would just wait then until it was a reasonable hour - no matter how much he wanted to make sure she was under his protection at that very second...

xxx

Mary-Lynnette irritably knocked the snooze button on her alarm. Wasn't it Saturday anyways? She snuggled back under her covers until she recollected last night. She sat up straight and with wide eyes.

Had it all really happened? Everything from almost getting in a fight, to not coming back with Marissa, to- to _Ash?_

She rubbed her head and groaned. Could she just not have her world knocked from under her feet? For the second time -

She blinked. What? she thought. Shaking her head she grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom, not surprised to find her apartment empty - her roommate was probably at her boyfriend's again.

Yeah. She needed some normalcy after everything before. Hopefully a shower could help clear her head.

Unfortunately the shower did nothing to clear her head. In fact she had more questions than before when she got a moment to completely digest everything.

She had even more questions than ever when someone knocked on the door and she swung it open to reveal a disheveled Ash. Mary-Lynnette's eyebrows flew upward as she regarded him. "I need you to come with me," he told her rather bluntly.

_"What_?"

Ash didn't even appear to have heard her. "Have you told anyone about...anything?"

Mary-Lynnette still had the door knob in her grasp and briefly considered shutting it in his face childishly. Instead she kept it in her hand - just in case. "I haven't talked to anyone, and why does it matter? I know humans aren't suppose to know about the - the - you know," she waved a hand in the air trying to remember what she was going to call it, but dropped it a little frustratingly. "I'm not stupid."

Ash eyes widened a little in surprise, but he narrowed his eyes. "You don't - never mind. I need you to come with me."

"Why should I?" she asked a little defiantly. She didn't know why but she always felt defensive around Ash. He just seemed too...handsome. Now that she got to see him properly in the daylight she knew he was very good looking - and he just seemed to be the type of guy to be full of himself. Not that he had been...

Ash looked up at the sky and Mary-Lynnette noticed the dark circles under his eyes, making his lack of sleep evident. "Look, can you please just come with me?" Mary-Lynnette could detect the desperation in his voice and her eyebrows rose in slight surprise. "I just- you need to be sa- watched."

Mary-Lynnette did not take Ash to be the kind of guy to stumble over his words. Something was bothering him - even if he had said she needed to be _watched_ she felt he needed her. Something important enough to come back.

She crossed her arms. "Where are we going?"

"To a witch."

xxx

Against her better judgement Mary-Lynnette was once again in the red car with Ash behind the wheel and she sat there uncomfortably. Why had she agreed to this? She stared at the light blue fabric of jeans and reminded herself, she was putting her trust in Ash to get answers. To know what was going on, between them and the- world Ash lived in. She frowned. They had a name for it, she knew that, but she couldn't think of it, let alone how she knew it.

"So, um, I was just thinking you looked awfully familiar," Ash said a little awkwardly staring strictly at the road.

"Okay..."

"No, I mean," Ash swallowed and scowled slightly at the road, "do you think, well, that I look familiar?"

Mary-Lynnette scrunched her eyebrows as she thought honestly about the question. "Well, yeah I guess so. But I thought you already knew from..." _when you drank blood from me and basically heard my thoughts - _"last night."

Ash shrugged. "I guess," he said, knowing exactly what she was referring to.

It was silent for little bit as Ash maneuvered his way deeper into the city, heading more towards shifty looking grungy neighborhoods.

"So witches are just everywhere, out in the open?" Mary-Lynnette asked with curiosity looking around, not really seeing anything that seemed exactly the place a witch would be.

Ash snorted. "Why wouldn't they be? Vampires, shapeshifters, they're all 'out in the open'." As if proving his point he pulled to the side of the deserted street in front of an alleyway and turned off the engine. "We're here."

Mary-Lynnette stared down the alley, unsure of what she was expecting, but this wasn't what she had in mind for a place a witch to be staying. Ash stepped out and waited for Mary-Lynnette to follow him. She did feeling a little nervous as they walked towards an almost hidden door on the side of the building.

Ash rapped his knuckles a few times against the door that Mary-Lynnette noticed had a long handle that was shaped into a sort of pedal with a dahlia on the end.

Mary-Lynnette's heart thumped in anticipation as the handle turned and pulled away and a curvy tall figure revealed herself and flicked her long black hair. Her dark red lips smirked.

"Nice to see you A- what's going on?"

**AN: Well, this chapter was harder to write than I thought. But I feel like this is finally coming together - what do you think? Thanks for reading :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Who Mary-Lynnette assumed to be the witch Ash had been looking for was standing in the door looking very unhappy. She stood with her arms crossed over her sleek black dress that hugged all of her curves. She could've been as old as Mary-Lynnette but it was hard to tell with her dark make up. Her red lips were currently pulled down in a frown and she looked at Mary-Lynnette distastefully.

"Ash, what do you think you're doing? A human? Really?" she hissed gesturing to Mary-Lynnette. She suddenly looked down the alley way with her black hair swaying both ways, then pulled them inside seeing it was empty.

Mary-Lynnette glared at her, but was too distracted by the place she was in to really put effort in the expression. The place was dimly lit with strange scented candles stacked every shelf - and there were many. And all the shelves were covered in some herbs and jars of unrecognizable objects. There was a counter against the far wall with a clunky looking register on one side. A circle table was set more off the side with more fat candles spread on it.

"I'm really sorry Leah, but-"

"Sorry?" she fumed. Mary-Lynnette noticed the candles flare brighter. "A human, Ash, vermin," she said slowly like she couldn't believe Ash could be so dense, while not understanding in the least what his motives were. "It's in my shop! I swear Ash, if I wasn't sure nobody was coming today-"

"Leah, just listen," Ash said lowly, his eyes taking on a dangerous silver color. Mary-Lynnette hadn't see him move, but he was standing in front of her protectively. Leah, the witch, took his warning and effectively shut up.

"I know she's a human, and I know how dangerous this is, but that's why I'm here, before any of this gets any worse," Ash continued in his low tone of voice.

Leah studied him, then her eyes shifted to Mary-Lynnette regarding her with dark eyes clouded by incredibly long lashes. Her dark red lips pulled into an ugly sneer as she said , "What do you want me to do about it? Since when do you care for vermin?"

Mary-Lynnette hands clenched at the last word and she saw Ash's back tense. "Leah, if there was anyone else I could ask, I would, but I don't know what's going on between us. I'm asking as a favor if you can do what you can to figure this out. Can I ask for you to keep this confidential?"

Leah's eyes widened in anger, but she leaned back on the table and smiled with her teeth. "Yes _if_ I can help," she emphasized. She laughed throwing her hair back. "Oh Ash, what happened to your silver tongue? This is hardly how you come asking for favors." She walked around the table with her hips swaying quickly grabbing a strange looking stone from a near by shelf and played with it.

Ash sighed and Mary-Lynnette couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy before she waved it away quickly - it wasn't the time to be considering exactly what her feelings for Ash were - and whatever favors he'd done for the witch in the past. Besides she'd just met the guy...

"So... is that a yes?"

"What exactly are you expecting me to do?"

Ash took a few steps towards the table and Mary-Lynnette followed him warily. She was wondering the answer too.

"I want to see if there's some sort of... block on our minds; if someone made us forget something."

Leah raised an eyebrow inspecting the both of them before she turned her dark eyes back to the stone she was turning over in her fingers. "So you and a human think you've forgotten something?" she said a little boredly, but something told Mary-Lynnette she was much more interested in the matter than she let on. She absolutely didn't trust her. "You're suggesting something that took as much power as the Cup of Leathe," she droned on flicking the stone over and across her fingers. "There are similar things that can be cast on the mind to make you forget," her eyes strayed to Ash, "but only temporarily."

Ash shook his head. "Then it would've worn off already."

Leah shrugged. "Oh alright, I'm interested. I'll do anything to get you and _her _out of my shop for good." She smirked a little, but her eyes were cold. "I'll do this for you Ash as a last favor, but then you're out of here for good. And if anyone asks about this I'll turn you over to your vampire Elders without a second thought."

Ash's eyes looked wary but without missing a beat he said, "Of course."

Mary-Lynnette didn't like the sound of the 'vampire Elders'. She shuddered at the completely horrid image she got of a stabbed goat with toothpicks even though that made completely no rational sense. She'd turn them over to the Elders who...

Why was Ash agreeing? Why was this Leah allowing them to go through with this? What was in it for her?

A last favor she had said. Mary-Lynnette frowned thinking how their previous 'favors' couldn't have been as business like.

"Mary-Lynnette?" She blinked realizing she had been too wrapped up in her own thoughts to hear him the first time.

Ash looked at her with slightly worried brown eyes that were already turning hazel. He frowned but motioned her forward towards Leah.

Leah smiled devilshly and muttered, "Never knew humans were _that_ stupid." Mary-Lynnette was about to retort when Leah waved her hand and said, "Look you just need to inhale this to relax, and I'll...probe your mind I suppose, to look for whatever you think is missing. Okay?" she asked patronizingly with that stupid smirk. Mary-Lynnette stared at the small brown sack in Leah's delicate fingers that she was suppose to inhale and glared into her dark brown eyes.

"I'm not into breathing in drugs or trusting people to just 'probe' my mind," Mary-Lynnette said sacastically. She didn't even care as the candles in the shop seemed to flare brighter as Leah's nostrils flared.

"Mary-Lynnette," Ash intervened, seeing the situation about to end badly. "I'm not happy about this either, but once we can get rid of whatever this connection is we can get on with our lives." Mary-Lynnette forced herself to calm down a little.

Leah's eyes flashed as she looked back to Ash. "A connection?" Ash nodded his head nonchalantly although Mary-Lynnette could see his shoulders tense. So I guess I'm not the only who doesn't trust her, Mary-Lynnette thought.

"You didn't mention this," Leah said holding the stone in her hand still. Her eyes glinted under her lashes.

"I didn't think it was necessary, I mean I'd thought you'd realize when two people - a vampire and a human forgetting something - it'd be obvious there was some kind of connection between us. A connection someone could've put" Ash raised an eyebrow at her as if asking her to argue his logic.

"Right... of course," she said. "Well Ash," she sighed, "before I regret this, tell your pet to smell this, or nothing I do is going to work."

Mary-Lynnette bristled at yet another stupid name this witch came up for her. Ash seemed to notice this and immediately told her, "Hey just inhale it, and once Leah's done you'll have forgotten about all this." Ash's light green eyes seemed a little sad as he said the last part, but Mary-Lynnette could've just imagined it.

Leah smirked as she handed Mary-Lynnette the small sack and Mary-Lynnette shot her a glare as she reluctantly took hold of it. Looking inside she noticed it was filled with ordinary looking twigs and leaves and some sort of brownish powder. Unknowingly with her face so close she had already smelled some of it leaving her feeling faint and relaxed with a sweet smell wafting around her.

She distinctly felt gentle hands grab her before she drooped to the floor. She didn't quite pass out - but she wasn't in control of her limbs because she was so relaxed, so languid, her eyelids fell shut.

The feeling was indescribable as she floated in between consciousness, but it could be best explained as a cleansing of her brain. Or rather a wave gently shifting through her mind. Like someone who went through a house picking things up and setting them back down. This went on for a little while until she felt the feeling ebb away but then stopped. It settled in one spot and it hurt a little bit, but then it was probed further making Mary-Lynnette breathe harder with pain.

When she couldn't take it anymore she was sitting straight up gasping and groaning wide awake. Mary-Lynnette's eyes settled on the two figures in front of her. Leah was staring at her with wide surprised eyes, and Ash was kneeling in front of her looking between her and Leah with knitted brows.

Mary-Lynnette asked, "What was that?" she slightly winced since the pain in her head hadn't fully left. At least now it was a dull ache.

Ash answered, looking at her with concern. "Leah went through your mind like she said."

Figures she was the one that caused that stupid pain, Mary-Lynnette thought.

Ash turned to the witch. "What was that?"

Leah still had her mouth opened in surprise and she shook her head. "Ash, whatever it is I can't help you."

"You don't know what it was?"

"No. I recommend seeing a strong telepath to get rid of that... Along with her memory."

Ash narrowed his eyes at Leah. "That's it?"

Leah finally found herself again and smirked, though it wasn't like her previous ones. "What are you expecting Ash? I did what you asked, and actually I'm kind of tired after that, so there's nothing else for you here."

They all stood up and Ash looked like he was about to argue, but he left with a final thanks with Mary-Lynnette following behind him. She stared after Ash who looked deep in thought with a scowl. The exited the small shop feeling more confused than ever.

xxx

Leah watched Ash and the human girl leave and laughed a little as the door shut.

Oh this was just rich. Leah had heard rumors of a Redfern being involved with that insane stray witch Dasiy Clara - but never had she guessed it was _Ash_ Redfern. Leah remembered how Daisy had went on and on about that ridiculous soulmate principle and how she had 'found a way'.

But with Ash - he had less respect for vermin than she did! So Leah had been extremely suspicious since Ash had first appeared with the human, but she let him tell her why he was there. Any information was useful. She saw the way he looked at the human, and when he had mentioned a connection, she knew something was wrong. She went through the human's mind for confirmation and there it was - the spell on her mind with the distinct feel of Daisy's spell, like Daisy's signature was left to show it was her handiwork. There was no questioning it now. Ash Redfern had been the one of Daisy's experiments, along with the human.

Leah grabbed her old telephone next to the register and paused a moment before cranking the dial. She didn't even really like the crazy woman - but then again Ash had just thought she'd be okay with him turning up with some girl - _vermin_ even.

A woman answered in a chirpy voice, "Hello?"

Leah drew her lips in a smile. "Daisy Clara? I think I've found your Redfern, along with his human."

**A/N: Ahh, so finally this story starts...**

** Welp, thanks for reading :) **


End file.
